The Pendant's Chosen
by Casa Circe
Summary: ESCAFLOWNE WEEK 2016 Day Seven: Good / Evil. Hitomi questions her worthiness of wielding the pendant's power. A familiar face reassures her that this is what she is meant to do.


**ESCAFLOWNE WEEK 2016, Day 7: GOOD / EVIL**

 _ **The Pendant's Chosen**_

 **NOTE:**

 **The penultimate entry for the week! And this time featuring Hitomi. With a cameo from her grandmother as well. This was fun because we don't get to see much from Yuri Kanzaki.**

 **Not particularly inspired but since I haven't explored her character in depth before, this was still an interesting exercise. I've always liked her, as far as the "human girls getting transported to other worlds" trope goes. She's one of the more relatable and least annoying anime characters in this genre. And she's a pretty likable heroine, at least for me, so I thought I'd write a bit about her in a non-shippy context (since most Esca fanfics are already about her and Van.)**

 **My first instinct for these prompts was to write about Celena and Dilandau but that seemed too obvious a choice. And whenever writing for a weeklong thing like this, I always try to write something a bit unusual. It doesn't always work but it's always worth a try.**

 **Hope you like this!**

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Hitomi studied the pendant with a frown. It glowed but faintly at the moment but she already sensed that soon it would glow brighter and reveal another difficult choice she needed to make. And whatever she chose could mean life or death to someone she loved, could mean destruction or safety to a world she barely understood.

So much power in such a small object.

And she wondered, not for the first time, how such a powerful thing had come into her possession. And why she had been chosen to bear this burden.

It was too much. All the horrible things she had seen, both in her visions and in reality. War and death. Fire and blood. Whole cities falling to ruin. People fleeing for their lives. So much suffering, so much pain. She hardly knew how she had endured witnessing all this without going completely mad.

And yet, some good had come of it, in spite of everything. The pendant had helped her save Van's life and had helped him save others. In all the chaos of Gaea, Hitomi had managed to protect one person. And that was worth something.

But still she wondered at the elaborate sequence of events that had brought this mysterious pendant into her hands. As she continued to reflect on the origins of the pendant, a vision of her grandmother appeared before her, but not in the form she remembered as a child.

Yuri Kanzaki looked about her age and was dressed in that familiar blue kimono, with her dark braids falling across her shoulders. The young woman smiled gently at the girl who was her granddaughter.

"Grandmother," Hitomi whispered in awe. She was no stranger to having visions of various people appearing before her but she never lost any of her wonder at the ineffable way things came about.

"You have questions," Yuri said gravely, "and I will try to answer them as best as I can."

Hitomi nodded. "I suppose the only thing to ask is: why me?"

"I'm nothing special," she continued, "just an ordinary, high school girl with the usual hopes and dreams. I'm not bad in track and field and I'm pretty good with tarot cards. But I'm hardly the most qualified person for this, whatever this is, holding the fate of an entire realm in my hands."

"And who would you consider qualified for this honor?" Yuri asked.

Hitomi shrugged in exasperation. "I don't know," she said, "someone older and wiser, someone with more experience of the world. Maybe a king or queen or princess or something? Or a scholar or soldier? Certainly not a high school student."

"You underestimate yourself, my dear," Yuri told her gently, "but you have already seen what people in positions of authority have done with what little power they are able to get their hands on. And surely you can imagine what they could do if they were able to control the pendant?"

Hitomi considered this carefully. It was true that in such a short time, she had already seen much of Gaea. She had visited several countries already and met their rulers. She never trusted the sly and manipulative King Aston. Hitomi trusted Princess Millerna and admired her dedication to becoming a doctor. But despite everything, Millerna was her age and still had much to learn about the world before she could be given even more responsibility than she had as the future queen.

Prince Chid was young and innocent, still pure of heart, but also easily manipulated by those around him. He was far too young for the burden of ruling a kingdom but he had risen to the challenge admirably. He did not need any more power on his hands.

Hitomi was completely against anything that Zaibach stood for. If Emperor Dornkirk's goals were to try and control fate to his own ends, she wanted no part in it.

She knew that Van was brave and strong and kind but even he sometimes thought of using her powers to further his own interests. At this point, she was not sure what to make of Allen Schezar, who had always been so noble and valiant but also had a painful past that he longed to escape from. And whatever else they were, Van and Allen were soldiers, and were willing to shed blood if it meant protecting those close to them.

And Hitomi was beginning to learn that even the noblest intentions never justified violence and bloodshed.

"So who would you entrust the pendant to, Hitomi?" her grandmother asked her again.

"I don't know," the girl answered truthfully, "The more I think about it, the more I get confused. Do I really deserve the power of this pendant?"

"The fact that you take this responsibility so seriously is to your credit, my child," Yuri said earnestly, "You question your right to hold the pendant because you fear its power and what can happen if you make the wrong choice. That in itself makes you worthy of it."

But Hitomi remained unconvinced so her grandmother continued. "You are a kind and compassionate girl, always willing to put your faith in people, no matter who they are. You devote your energy to protecting those around you."

"But I have used the pendant for selfish reasons too!" Hitomi argued, "Remember what happened when I misinterpreted the tarot cards for Millerna?"

The disaster that had ensued was still fresh in her mind and she had not ceased to regret her actions.

"Being selfish can hardly be avoided, Hitomi," Yuri said sympathetically, "and there are always consequences. But you are more aware than most of your own weaknesses, and you have been willing to make adjustments. You learn from your mistakes, and that makes all the difference."

"But is that enough?" Hitomi asked anxiously, holding the pendant up and watching as it glowed brighter.

Yuri smiled at her encouragingly. "You're always putting your faith in people, Hitomi. It's time you do the same for yourself."


End file.
